Customer Reviews

Legends Of The Fall: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack

5 star:		(56)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This soundtrack CD is another of my favorite examples of how you need not necessarily have to see or remember the movie to enjoy the music. It's also the type of soundtrack which, after you have seen the movie, cries out, "Listen to me! Listen to me!" whenever your favorite scenes in the movie cross your mind.

"Legends of the Fall" is the first part of what I call "The Horner 90's Trilogy". That is, three film soundtracks, all composed by James Horner, all sounding vividly the same in many places, all released approximately within one year of each other. The other two parts of the Trilogy would be "Braveheart" and "Titanic."

The music of "Legends" contains equal amounts of dark and light tone colors. A soft, romantic melody (written and performed by Samuel for Susannah) and an equally beautiful main theme are used to underscore the sense of family warmth and importance felt by the Ludlows before the war. Jay Ungar, famous for "Ashokan Farewell", the theme from "The Civil War" by Ken Burns, makes a notable appearance on these tracks.

With World War I and everything following it, the music become distinctly darker, particularly the cues illustrating Tristan's behaviors and perilous adventures. Take note, listeners: Horner will do an excellent job of making you feel what Tristan (Brad Pitt) feels. In my honest opinion, this album is worth buying for Track 11, "Revenge" by itself.

"Revenge" is a pivotal point in the film. Tristan is being released from prison for illegal transportation of wine during Prohibition and aggravated assault. During their questioning of him the arresting officers fired some warning bullets into the air---fatally striking Tristan's wife Isabella. While the music is playing, everything happens at once: two government agents are shot, Tristan stalks and kills one of the officers who shot his wife, Susannah (Julia Ormond) struggles with the fact that even though she is married to Alfred (Aidan Quinn)she still loves Tristan, cuts off her hair----and shoots herself finding the pain of a broken heart unbearable. Observant listeners will take note of the sound of this track to a simillar one on the "Braveheart" soundtrack, also called Revenge.

Bottom line: this is a must for any James Horner fan, or soundtrack genre fan in general. It's simply one of Horner's best.

I am a serious film soundtrack collector. Some people call me an "audiophile." This album would be one of my top five, no matter what. I have had it for about two years, and my love for it has only increased with every listen. This summer, I went adventuring in Colorado for eight days in the heart of the Rocky Mountains. My hiking friend, who was escorting me through the state, had a CD player in his Jeep. We listened to many of my soundtracks. This one was hands down, we both decided, the perfect fit to the bone jarring majesty and beauty that confronts one in the solitude of the Rocky Mountains. Buy this CD, it is incredible. One warning: any listening to this score during moments of true grief or sadness is guaranteed to produce tears (unless you fight that sort of thing.) I happened to turn this score on after I lost a good friend once, and I couldn't believe what it did to me. There is a depth of feeling and emotion in this 70+ minute score that lasts from beginning to end, without ever becoming boring or repetitive. By the way, this review is also entirely independent of the film (I've never seen it.) This soundtrack is also known to many people who are not into this type of music, or don't listen to any "classical" music. I've had heavy metal heads tell me they liked this score. The themes develop throughout the CD, and culminate in an awesome London Symphony Orchestra display of musical brilliance in the last track. Pay special attention to tracks 1-4, 12 & 13. For one of the most intense musical contrasts between chaos and tranquility I've ever heard, listen to track five and the ensuing transition that the beginning of track six provides. One of the greatest film scores, if not pieces of music, ever written. And by the way, if the James Horner haters tell you it is like Dances With Wolves, they are talking about all of about 40 seconds in one track. IMHO, there is no real similarity there anyway.

Well, to be a naysayer, James Horner can do wrong. Not often. But there are those scores with which I'm sure he doesn't leave lying around on the coffee table. But when he's on, HE'S ON.

James Horner is one of the few composers I love who is not afraid to hit and miss. He tries new things. His "Commando" was neat and worked for the film which is, I guess, the mandatory goal of any score. And I cannot think of a single James Horner score that did not work for it's film, but there are those scores of his that are simply BREATHTAKING.

"Legends of the Fall," is breathtaking. Pan flutes echo the damning sorrows of the Ludlow family as their lives move into and out of Tristan's tragic world.

"What we had is dead, as I am dead. Marry another," writes Tristan backdropped by Horner's sorrow filled strings.

Edward Zwick first collaborated with Horner on his moving and passionate "Glory." I never thought these two could outdo themselves. And they haven't. But "Legends of the Fall" is flawless in it's own right, a perfect anastomosis of pain and redemption, sweeping and yet very personal.

Horner has written some passionate gems such as, "The Rocketeer," "Braveheart," "Star Trek II," and the forever lost "Krull." He is an unbelievable composer who finally seems to be receiving these well-deserved accolades. He can occasionally recycle themes, but he continues to succeed in intertwining old and new to create some of the greatest film scores I've ever heard.

James Horner has written a classic score for "Legends Of The Fall". His sweeping strings and powerful themes create the perfect emotions for each scene in the movie, and as an album , it plays almost perfectly. The highlight of the album has to be track 2, "The Ludlows". Opening with the delicate sound of Horner's piano playing, and then bursting into theme soon after. "Off To War" shows how Horner can create mysterious and enchanting pieces of music without loosing site of the theme he has just created, continuously reminding us of it with short bursts of full orchestra. Even the action cues are listenable (which is no easy feat!) and Horner resists the temptation of using heavy percusion to create mood, and instead relies solely on melody, which, in my opinion works so much better. Horner is often critised for the similarities between his scores,no such problem here, in my opinon, this is his most origial score, and close to being his best and if you are already a James Horner fan, or maybe just a score fan, this album is certainly for you! And if you are neither of these, then this is a perfect first time buy!

This is without a doubt the best James Horner score i've ever heard. This is also some of the most beautiful music i've ever heard. It is a lavish, sweeping, romantic, and delightful score. "Legends of the Fall" is a breathtaking theme that really is gorgeous and phenomenal. "The Ludlows" contains a wonderful string theme that also is breathtaking. Some action music can be found in "Samuel's Death" which contains some sad and ominous parts in it as well. Alfred's theme which is introduced in "Alfred Moves To Helena" is a more sorrowful string theme than the other ones, but still excellent. "Revenge" contains the Japanese wood flute, the shakuhachi, that Horner uses a lot in his scores. The last 2 tracks finish off the soundtrack wonderfully with the main themes soaring into the heavens one last time, leaving the listener breathless. This is a score that will always remain at the top and never cease to anything less. An extraordinarily beautiful and epic score.

As a devoted collector of film scores, I am confident in saying that if you purchase one dramatic symphonic motion picture score, it ought rightly to be Horner's Legends of the Fall. Despite the musings of some jaded critics who seem determined to reduce this work through systematic over-analyzation and comparison, the score is itself nothing short of breathtaking. With a richness of sound and a purity of passion, Horner's score will fill your mind and your heart with a wondrous sense of human emotion and a reflection of nature's grandeur. From the mysterious, earthly sounds of the opening track through the full emotional explosion of the main theme, Legends never disappoints. The score reaches a highpoint in the track "Off to War" in which the main theme bursts forth with such graceful magnificence and with such soul-stirring breadth that even the most casual listener could be reduced to tears. Legends of the Fall will capture your heart and fill your soul with a deep sense of tragedy, compassion, magnificence and frailty. There simply is not a more stirring film score in existence.

Have you ever seen a movie before and loved it for no other reason than the soundtrack? I love Legends of the Fall. Not because the storyline is fantastic or because Brad Pitt is dreamy. No, I love the movie because of the music. I actually bought this cassette tape ten years ago in a second hand store. I had never seen the movie but for $.25 I thought, what the hay. It quickly became my favorite cassette and now CD ever. While many movie scores have moved me, nothing has ever been quite like Horner's Legends. The emotion, the gradure of Montana, the fall of the family is beautifully expressed in the music. If I had to be stranded on a desert island for the rest of my life and could only take one CD, this would be it.

My son and daughter-in-law used the song, The Ludlow's as the march for their wedding and the entire congregation held a collective breath as she walked down the aisle. A more beautiful or memorable piece I couldn't think of

I've read all of the reviews below, and several of them mention that the themes sound reminiscent of Braveheart and Titanic. While I can't disagree ("To the Boys" and "Samuel's Death" sound pretty darn close to the revenge/battle themes of Braveheart, I have to admit), I feel that I must defend Horner's originality. Each of his classic 90s soundtracks (Legends, Braveheart, and Titanic) have completely seperate themes. The main theme of Legends can be heard in "The Ludlows." Listen to that theme, and then put in Braveheart and listen to song #3. The themes are totally different. Similarly, listen to "Rose" on the Titanic soundtrack--completely original. And yet Horner fans can tell that he composed all of them because of the familiar instruments he favors: sweeping violins, pipes and flutes, sometimes a choir/vocalist, and that recurring theme that pops up in almost every track at some point, bringing the listener back to the main themes or tragedies of the films. The movies themselves might be the reason for the "similarities." Legends of the Fall, Braveheart, and Titanic are all sad, somewhat tragic movies, filled with death, revenge, danger, and love. Maybe that's why people sometimes say his themes are too similar--they're actually thinking of the films!

One of the things that bothered me a lot is that "Legends Of The Fall" was not nominated for an Oscar back in 1994-95, and I would have been more than happy if James Horner had won it for this beautiful piece of music, and not for "Titanic" three years later. Not that the latter wasn't touching, but I think that "Legends" has more personality.
Some people might say that Horner was channeling Aaron Copland, but to be honest, I simply don't care. This is his best composition from his 90's output, period. I mean the theme in the first track, as well as the theme for the Ludlow family, are truly masterpieces in their own right; when I heard them in the movie, I shed tears because these compositions fit perfectly with the drama and the beautiful landscapes you see on screen. In spite of the similarity of the track 'Revenge' with Horner's 'Hightland's Execution' from "Patriot Games", the beauty and the power of the aforementioned themes is overwhelming enough to forget that track.
All in all, "Legends Of The Fall" is a far better work than "Titanic", to tell you the truth, and this is one great, great film score by James Horner.